"We left on a Monday in July," Ahmet says. "After a few days at sea, people started dying. Of the 103 people on the boat, only 45 remained." Last year, nearly 60,000 people reached the Canary Islands via the perilous migration route across the Atlantic Ocean. The Canary Islands are Spanish territory, and many migrants hope to obtain residency in Europe this way. They depart from coastal villages in Senegal in small boats. According to the Spanish government, more than ten thousand young people did not survive the crossing. A sad record. Young people in Senegal are risking their lives because there are few prospects for the future in their villages. And this is partly due to global warming. The coastal village of Djiffer is in danger of disappearing into the sea. The sea is encroaching, agricultural lands are becoming salinized, and work is scarce. One in three young people under 34 cannot find work.

The documentary Wecco Wacko Farm Club portrays the people behind these figures and explores how an agroecological farming system can offer a solution to the consequences of climate change. In its 2050 plan, the Senegalese government states that it wants to become more autonomous and grow more of its own food to be less dependent on foreign imports. The film therefore takes us to women who collectively maintain agroecological fields and start cooperatives, young people who plant trees in the mangroves, develop innovative irrigation systems, or collect plastic to keep their village clean. A story of resilience and creativity.

"We have to develop a completely new system," Mamadou says. "Not the system imposed on us from outside." I think that will also mean fewer young people will leave. My best friend drowned at sea, and I told him not to go. If I can show other young people that it can be done, I think they will follow my example.

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Roel Nollet went on the road for this documentary with journalism students Manon Cools (Thomas More Mechelen), Evy Coeckelbergs (Artevelde University College Ghent), and Fousseyni Touré (Université de Thiès).

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